HONEYLAND is the so-called for the film’s setting where honey is produced by wild bees.  It has been touted and well believed that bees are necessary for the planet to survive lest exists.  If bees are eradicated from the face of the earth, so will all living creatures.  HONEYLAND bases its premise on the fact and works well to stress the importance of the living bees.

The film begins as a documentary as the camera moves to show the barren terrain of an unarmed country later revealed through the radio that it is Macedonia.  HONEYLAND also marks the rare occurrence of a film that is made in that country that earns a commercial release in North America.  The film is slated as a documentary but it rarely feels like one.  As the camera spans the mountains, it closes in on an old woman, soon revealed to be the last female beehunter in Europe who must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland.  The film has the feel of fiction as it follows the life of the protagonist as she cares for her ailing mother among other chores.   She removes rock from the mountain while on a narrow edge to reveal bees and honey.  She also cultivates honey with the bees back close to her home while looking after her mother.  The film goes on to show how she etches a living going to the town to sell her high quality honey to the vendors.  She gets about 10 to 20 euros per jar.  But trouble then begins in paradise. A family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.  She initially bonds with the family till their acts threaten her bees.  Her rule is to take half and leave half of the holy for the bees.  This film is an exploration of an observational Indigenous visual narrative that deeply impacts our behaviour towards natural resources and the human condition.

Nazife Muratova plays herself as the beekeeper.  It is so noticeable that she has bad teeth.  For those unaware – I read this in the internet – that honey is really bad and much worse than sugar for ones teeth.  Yet, she is pretty in her own way and has sufficient charisma as the leading lady in the doc.

As a documentary, the film contains a few unforgettable candid scenes.  One is the birth of  calf as a boy pulls the calf out of the mother.  The other are the segments with the bees.  The beekeepers, Nazife in particular often do not wear any protective gear and yet yet do not get stung.

A multi-award winner at the Sundance festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) and several special mentions, HONEYLAND was also selected at the last Hot Docs Film Festival.  HONEYLAND opens this week at the TIFF Bell Lightbox together with MUSEO a new film from Mexico.  Both these films are the best films opening this weekend.  Take a trip to the Lightbox.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B27ORUHlp6E